There's definitely a nostalgia factor that we all have for our childhood. That being said, I've talked with a number of people from both the Greatest Generation (adults in the 1950's) and Boomers (children in the 1950s) in the course of my life. I can't think of one that expressed a belief that life was better "today" (1990's to present, depending on time of conversation) than the 50's. That tells me something.
That’s true. And they are a much better source. I’m so sick of done Gen z writer acting like anything that happened before they were aware of things was horrible
I don't think people realized how fucking authoritarian the Greatest Generation was. They really did have absolute faith in their institutions. The Union would never betray the workers. The bank was staffed by people of only the highest character. If the government said that you needed to go to war, you did. That's not pollution, that's the smell of progress. Cigarettes aren't harmful, doctors said so. The TV Man is my friend and wouldn't lie to me. Every pastor is a pinnacle of morality.
These are people who didn't even openly rebel when FDR told them to turn over their private gold coins, and round up the japs. The first thing we think is how the government will kick down our door and put us into the camps.
Now, I grant you, those institutions were exploiting the hell out of propaganda and central control over the media. GG'ers (not to be confused with GamerGaters) didn't know any better. How could they? Who would have told them? The institutions actually did work to maintain that trust. The Union did advocate for better conditions (even if it worked with the mob). The bankers didn't blow money out their ass every second, and didn't think it was a moral imperative to cancel your deposit. The government tried to use massive projects to prove it's value, and major work programs to unify the country in some collective effort. Doctors weren't going to castrate your children, and were still living down lobotomies from the 20's & 30's. Pastors didn't sanctify Fentynal addicts as equivalent to Christ, and douse themselves in rainbow colors.
Fucking Boomers were the first generation to be much more cynical after GG'ers. Gen X was even more cynical. Millenials are the first generation to be both purely cynical, and then also absolutely trust institutions that cater to them. Institutions that aren't even pretending to act legitimate. The rest of us dissident Millennials, we're so fucking jaded that we don't even expect the courts to imprison murderers, for the prosecutors to charge them, or for the cops to even arrest them. We are probably the single most jaded and cynical generation in American history, and the Zoomers might be just as bad.
We aren't anything like the GG'ers. We aren't capable of trusting the institutions the way they did. Mostly because those institutions raped the trust that was given to them.
FFS, I tell people not to go to college. "Don't get a post-secondary education" isn't something most human civilizations have argued. But the problem is that it's good advice because the institution of higher education is so fucking poisonous that it's better not to be educated in ideology, damaged by abusive systems, and burdened with unbelievable debt.
Well, the Democrats wanted an excuse to blow up Nixon, and on the other hand Nixon betrayed a lot of trust that Republicans placed in him. Same with Rockefeller.
There's definitely a nostalgia factor that we all have for our childhood. That being said, I've talked with a number of people from both the Greatest Generation (adults in the 1950's) and Boomers (children in the 1950s) in the course of my life. I can't think of one that expressed a belief that life was better "today" (1990's to present, depending on time of conversation) than the 50's. That tells me something.
That’s true. And they are a much better source. I’m so sick of done Gen z writer acting like anything that happened before they were aware of things was horrible
I don't think people realized how fucking authoritarian the Greatest Generation was. They really did have absolute faith in their institutions. The Union would never betray the workers. The bank was staffed by people of only the highest character. If the government said that you needed to go to war, you did. That's not pollution, that's the smell of progress. Cigarettes aren't harmful, doctors said so. The TV Man is my friend and wouldn't lie to me. Every pastor is a pinnacle of morality.
These are people who didn't even openly rebel when FDR told them to turn over their private gold coins, and round up the japs. The first thing we think is how the government will kick down our door and put us into the camps.
Now, I grant you, those institutions were exploiting the hell out of propaganda and central control over the media. GG'ers (not to be confused with GamerGaters) didn't know any better. How could they? Who would have told them? The institutions actually did work to maintain that trust. The Union did advocate for better conditions (even if it worked with the mob). The bankers didn't blow money out their ass every second, and didn't think it was a moral imperative to cancel your deposit. The government tried to use massive projects to prove it's value, and major work programs to unify the country in some collective effort. Doctors weren't going to castrate your children, and were still living down lobotomies from the 20's & 30's. Pastors didn't sanctify Fentynal addicts as equivalent to Christ, and douse themselves in rainbow colors.
Fucking Boomers were the first generation to be much more cynical after GG'ers. Gen X was even more cynical. Millenials are the first generation to be both purely cynical, and then also absolutely trust institutions that cater to them. Institutions that aren't even pretending to act legitimate. The rest of us dissident Millennials, we're so fucking jaded that we don't even expect the courts to imprison murderers, for the prosecutors to charge them, or for the cops to even arrest them. We are probably the single most jaded and cynical generation in American history, and the Zoomers might be just as bad.
We aren't anything like the GG'ers. We aren't capable of trusting the institutions the way they did. Mostly because those institutions raped the trust that was given to them.
FFS, I tell people not to go to college. "Don't get a post-secondary education" isn't something most human civilizations have argued. But the problem is that it's good advice because the institution of higher education is so fucking poisonous that it's better not to be educated in ideology, damaged by abusive systems, and burdened with unbelievable debt.
Well one thing that changed alot.of that was Watergate. That's when trust in the government dropped significantly
Well, the Democrats wanted an excuse to blow up Nixon, and on the other hand Nixon betrayed a lot of trust that Republicans placed in him. Same with Rockefeller.